This invention pertains to a composition which is particularly useful as an adhesive as well as a method of making an adhesive composition and a method of using an adhesive composition.
Many compositions that are useful as coatings, adhesives, sealants, and/or elastomers are cured. That is, they undergo useful chemical reactions that build molecular weight. Curing reactions may consist of one or more of the following functions: polymerization, branching of polymers, crosslinking of polymers, and formation of crosslinked networks. One chemical reaction known to be useful for the cure of compositions is the Michael addition reaction. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,536 discloses the use of Michael addition in the formation of cured lacquers. One difficulty with this technology, however, is that the Michael addition reaction requires the presence of a strong base catalyst, and such catalysts require the presence of a volatile solvent, or they produce other nonreactive volatile molecules during the cure process, or both. The presence of volatile nonreactive compounds such as solvents and products of cure processes is generally undesirable, and it is usually necessary to remove them, which requires extra effort and expense.
The problem addressed by the present invention is the provision of polymer compositions that can be formed and/or crosslinked by the Michael addition reaction without the use or production of substantial amounts of volatile non-reactive compounds.